Door stop means

ABSTRACT

Door stop means for sliding doors or the like whereby one of the doors slides relative to another. Means is provided for holding the sliding door in a partly open position by mounting a device having a weighted member adapted to selectively engage either the sliding door itself or a stop thereon to prevent the door from opening past a desired position.

[54] 000R STOP MEANS 3,151,901 10/1964 Ahlgren ..292/010. 46 [72] Inventor: Manuel D. Silva, 21440 Oak Street, gamer 25 52 Hayward Ca 94546 mery 9 852,517 5/1907 Moss ..292/238 [22] Filed: Sept. 11, 1970 3,267,613 8/1966 McQuiston ...49/449 4,5 2 1 1 t ..4 4 21 Appl. No.: 71,454 3 55 9 K3 Z 9/4 9 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay [52] US. Cl ..292/238, 16/82, 49/449, Assistant Examiner-Darrell Marquette 292/D1G. 46 Att0rne v-Me1lin, Moore & Weissenberger [51] Int. Cl ..1E05c 3/04, E05d 13/04 [58] Field of Search ..16/82, 83, 86; 49/449; [57] ABSTRACT 292/238 47 Door stop means for sliding doors or the like whereby one of 56 R fer n es Cited the doors slides relative to another. Means is provided for l l e e c holding the sliding door in a partly open position by mounting n- STATES PATENTS a device having a weighted member adapted to selectively engage either the sliding door itself or a stop thereon to prevent l,957,1 13 5/1934 Smith ..292/238 the door f opening past a desired position 1,086,910 2/1914 Ford..... ..292/238 1,171,908 2/1916 Ware ..292/238 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY 9I972 3,661,413

sum 2 OF 2 INVENTOR.

MANUEL D. SILVA ATTORNEYS noon sror MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a door stop and more particularly relates to a locking device for preventing the opening of a horizontally sliding glass door or the like.

Since 1945, the home construction business in the United States has enjoyed a tremendous boom and has brought with it various innovations in the type and design of the home constructed or fabricated. One of the innovations of the newer homes today is a family room which is usually separated from the living room and is generally physically located toward the rear of the house. One wall or side of the family room, usually the wall which faces the back yard, is provided with means for ingress and egress thereinto. This means for coming into and leaving the family room generally constitutes two glass doors one of which is stationary or fixed and the other of which is slidable in a horizontal plane and upon a track which is usually a metal, for example, aluminum, or wood track and frame, which also encloses the two doors. The slidable glass door is usually opened by means of a handle which is physically attached to the right-handportion of said glass door, assuming said door opens from the right to the left. (The handle would be positioned on the left-hand portion of the opposite door if the left-hand door was slidable.) In addition to the handle attached to the door, there is also associated therewith a simple latch-lock type mechanism which permits the glass door to be in a locked position when closed and the latch is in, for example, a downward or upward position depending upon which way the lock is made in order to be locked. The lock per se is quite simple in construction and merely constitutes, in general, a piece of metal associated with the door handle mechanism and which is positioned in a slot or crevice located in the metal or wood frame immediately adjacent the sliding glass door; i.e., when said door is in a fully closed and locked position.

The main disadvantage associated with the aforementioned prior art lock type apparatus is that one may easily insert a small object such as a screwdriver in between the metal frame and the sliding glass door and force the latch into an open position. The unlocking of a sliding glass door in the aforementioned manner is well known and the entry of numerous homes has been committed by the forcible opening of the sliding glass door in the aforementioned manner. Thus, there has beena need for a simple, inexpensive, and relatively easily installable apparatus which would prevent such a sliding glass door from being forcibly opened without a complete breakage of the door, which in the case of a burglary would be highly undesirable from the intruders point of view since the noise would then attract another partys attention.

Also, it may at times be desirable to partly open such sliding doors and lock them in a partly opened position so that it is possible to permit small animals, such as household pets, to have ingress or egress through the doors while preventing a person from so doing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide door stop means for sliding doors or the like for quickly and economically partly opening and locking one or more sliding doors in such partly opened position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such door stopmeanswhich may be readily moved into and out of the path of such sliding doors for carrying out the foregoing ob- 'ect.

J It is a still further object of this invention to provide such door stop means which can be readily applied to sliding doors which close from either side of a stationary door.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide such door stop means which is economical and inexpensive to manufacture and can be adapted to many types of sliding doors or the like.

These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing door stop means whereby a first door is slidable relative to another. Means is provided for holding the sliding door in a partly open position by mounting a device having a weighted member adapted to selectively engage either the sliding door itself or a stop thereon to prevent the door from opening past a desired position.

The device is weighted in an off-center relationship permitting it to be foot-operated so that, when it is desired to lock the door, the weighted member is kicked so that it pivots downwardly with the weighted end either engaging the stop or the door itself. By pressing down on a tail portion of the weighted member, the weighted end thereof is raised so that it is off-center and thus in an unlocked" position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a vertical view of a stop device in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a portion of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the FIG. 3 portion;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the same FIG. 3 portion;

FIG. 6 is a vertical view of one arrangement using the device of FIGS. I through 5 on a pair of sliding doors;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the device of FIGS. I through 5 as applied to a sliding door that opens from one side of a stationary door; and

FIG. 8 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 3 applied to a sliding door that opens from the other side of a stationary door.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, a door stop 10 is shown having a base 11 with a pair of spaced upwardly extending brackets 12 thereon. A pair of aligned apertures 13 are disposed in each bracket 12 and a pivot pin 14 extends between the brackets 12 and is secured therein by any suitable means, as for example, thread means on one of the apertures 13 and mating thread means on one end of the pivot pin 14 (not shown). Alternatively, the ends of pin 14 may be threaded with suitable bolts thereon (also not shown).

A weighted member 15 is secured to base 11 as by means of pin 14 passing through an aperture 16 in weighted member l5. Weighted member 15 is in the general form of an L with a tapered tip or tail portion 16 forming one leg of the L and a weighted end 17 forming the other leg of the L. The weighted member 115 is mounted off-center with respect to base 11 so that, when weighted end 17 is raised as in the solid line position in FIG. 1, the weight of the member 15 is past the center pivotal point. When it is desired to lock the door as will be described hereinbelow, it is merely necessary to push or kick weighted end 17 from its solid line position in FIG. 1 to its dotted line position. To unlock the door, this procedure is reversed; that is, by pressing down on tail portion 16 (in its dotted line position in FIG. 1), the weighted end 17 is raised to its solid line position so that it is off center and thus remains vertical and out of engagement with the sliding door.

The particular dimensions of door stop are a matter of choice obviously depending on its use in a particular environment, the size of the door or doors desired to be locked in a partly open position, the access available for engagement of the tail portion 16 and weighted end 17, etc. Thus, for example, in one particular application of my invention, the weighted member may have approximately the measurements shown in FIGS. 3 through 5. Thus, the tail portion I6 may be any convenient length so as to be readily engaged by the foot of the operator. Aperture 16 (FIG. 3) preferably lies along the general line conforming to the top of the weighted end 117 when tail portion I6 is in a raised position (with a onehalf inch radius of curvature, one-eighth inch high, given to the top of weighted end 17 above this imaginary general line). As can be seen in FIG. 4, the width of weighted member 15 may be 1 inch with a tapered neck portion 1% connecting tail portion 16 to weighted end 17 (tapered neck portion 18 being about seven-eighths inch thick). Finally, as can be seen in FIG. 5, the surfaces of tail portion 16 and its central portion (i.e., the intersection of tail portion 16 with weighted end 17) may be rounded off, as by providing a one-quarter inch radius of curvature to the top of tail portion 16 as indicated and a oneeighth inch radius of curvature to the bottom central portion.

Obviously, such specific measurements are merely one example of how a door stop may be manufactured to give both an aesthetic configuration and specific dimensions which will enable it to function as indicated.

Various uses to which my stop device 10 may be put will now be described. Although I will describe such uses as directed to a sliding door or doors, obviously doors may include sliding windows, panels, closet doors, or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a pair of sliding doors l9 and 20 are shown, the doors moving in the direction of arrows 21 and 22, and either in separate parallel tracks or in the same trackway 23' in opposite directions as shown. Door stops, in accordance with my invention, may be disposed on the threshold associated with such doors onto which the trackway 23' is mounted. As will be discussed with particular reference to FIG. 7, the door stop 10 is located so that weighted end 17 moves into the path of sliding movement of doors l9 and 20 when the weighted end 17 is moved or kicked downwardly as discussed hereinabove. Also, depending on the width of trackway 23', the stops 10 may be mounted thereon, if necessary.

Thus, referring now to FIG. 7, door 23 is slidable within the track 24 of a trackway 25 while a similar door 26 is stationary thereto in a parallel portion 27 of trackway 25 (i.e., parallel to track 24). Generally, such parallel portion 27 is of course a track similar to track 24 and parallel and adjacent thereto.

Door stop 10 is mounted to the threshold 28 by, for example, extending screws 29 or the like through apertures 30 (FIG. 1) in the base 11 of door stop 10 and into the threshold 28. Of course, various types of mounting means may be provided. This general arrangement of doors is of the type where the sliding door is on the inside of stationary door 26 and moves in the track 24 in the direction of arrow 30. The exact location of door stop 10 is obviously a matter of choice depending on the extent to which it is desired to lock door 23 in a partly opened position. Thus, as illustrated, by kicking weighted member 15 down, weighted end 17 moves into the path of sliding door 23 (as illustrated) while tail portion 16 is in the general vertical position. Thus, door 23 cannot move any further in track 24 until tail portion 16 is kicked or pushed back thus no longer impeding the sliding movement ofdoor 23 with weighted end 17 now, due to the off-center arrangement of member 15 on base 11, in an upright position and clear of track 24. As can be seen, this arrangement is identical to the arrangement which can be used with one or both of the sliding doors of FIG. 6. If the solid line 31 in FIG. 7 represents the opening into which the doors are mounted, door 23 is held in a relatively small partly opened position. By moving door stop 10 further along the threshold 28 in the direction of arrow 30, the size of the ingress and egress through door 23 can be varied depending on the location of door stop 10 with respect to track 24.

Referring now to FIG. 8, if the sliding door 32 is located outside of the stationary door, a stop member 33 must be provided on the bottom of door 32 in a position adapted to engage the weighted end 17 of member 15. Thus, as shown, door 32 slides in a track 33' of a trackway 34 in the directionof arrow 35. A stationary door 36 is mounted in a track 37 parallel and adjacent to track 33'. Stop member 10 is mounted in either the track 37 of door 36 or the threshold onto which trackway 34 is mounted, again depending upon the width of the trackway 34. In this manner, weighted end 17 can be moved into and out of the path of stop member 33 on door 32 as it slides in track 33 in the direction of arrow 35. When stop member 33 engages weighted end 17, the extent of opening door 32 is impeded. Upon release of weighted end 17, as by kicking or pushing down tail portion 16, stop member 33 is disengaged and door 32 continues to open. Again, the position of door stop 10 with respect to its engagement with stop member 33 can be modified depending upon the amount of ingress and egress desired through door 32.

Thus, a relatively simple and economical means is provided for carrying out the techniques of my invention. The door stop 10 may be made of any suitable material, such as aluminum or the like. It can be mounted on almost any type of sliding door arrangement, the only requirement being that the weighted end be adapted to move into and out of the path of movement of the sliding door (or into engagement with a stop member thereon). It can be mounted on either the threshold or in the trackway itself again depending upon the foregoing requirement. In this manner, even though a burglar or the like may force" an outside lock on such a sliding door, he may still not be able to enter due to the engagement of such door with my door stop. Finally, access through such doors may be provided for dogs and cats and the like but denied to small children.

I claim as my invention:

1. A door stop for sliding doors or the like whereby at least one of the doors is slidable with relation to another, the sliding door being mounted in a track installed on the threshold of said doors, said stop comprising:

a base member adapted to be selectively secured to either said threshold or said track and having a pair of upwardly extending brackets;

a weighted member pivotally mounted on said base member, said weighted member being generally L-shaped with one leg of said L forming a tail portion and the other end of said L having weighted means thereon so positioned as to bias said weighted member when said other end of said L is pivoted upwardly with respect to said base member in a first position past the center pivotal point of said weighted member with respect to said base member whereby said weighted member is stationary with respect to said base member and said weighted means is thereby uppermost and unblocks the sliding door mounted in said track so that said door slides freely within said track to a second position back through said center pivotal point whereby said other end attains a position with said tail portion uppermost solely under the weight of said other end and said weighted means extends into the track of said sliding door to thereby block the sliding door from sliding movement within said track.

2. The door stop of claim 1 wherein said base member includes a plurality of apertures therein for securing said base member to either said trackway or said threshold.

3. The door stop of claim 1 wherein said weighted member is pivotally mounted on said base member by means of a pin passing through both said weighted member at substantially the intersection of the legs of said L and both of said brackets, said weighted member being disposed between and within said brackets.

4. Apparatus for preventing the opening of a door that is slidable with respect to another, said sliding door being mounted within a track secured to the threshold of said doors, said apparatus comprising:

a stop member fixedly secured to the door that is slidable with respect to the other;

a door stop fixedly secured to a track within which the other of said doors is mounted and spaced from said stop member in the path of movement of said slidable door when said slidable door is in a closed position with respect to the other of said doors, said door stop including a base member fixedly secured to said track and having a pair of upwardly extending brackets, a weighted member pivotally mounted on said base member, said weighted member being generally L-shaped with one leg of said L forming a tail portion and the other end of said L forming a portion weighted with respect to said tail portion, said weighted member being off center with respect to said base member so that when said weighted portion is pivoted upwardly with respect to said base member, the

weight of said weighted member is past the center pivotal point of said weighted member with respect to said base member, and said weighted member being movable from a position whereby said weighted portion is clear of said stop member as said slidable door slides in said track to a position whereby said stop member engages said weighted portion as said slidable door slides in said track.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said stop member includes a portion extending outwardly from the door that is slidable with respect to the other into the track occupied by the other of said doors.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said weighted member is pivotally mounted on said base member by means of a pin passing through both said weighted member at substantially the intersection of the legs of said L and both of said brackets, said weighted member being disposed between and within said brackets.

7. Apparatus for preventing the opening of a door that is slidable with respect to another, said sliding door being mounted within a track secured to the threshold of said doors, said apparatus comprising:

a door stop fixedly secured to said threshold, said door stop including a base member fixedly secured to said threshold and having a pair of upwardly extending brackets, a

weighted member being generally L-shaped with one leg of said L forming a tail portion and the other end of said L having weighted means thereon so positioned as to bias said weighted member when said other end of said L is pivoted upwardly with respect to said base member in a first position past the center pivotal point of said weighted member with respect to said base member whereby said weighted member is stationary with respect to said base member and said weighted means is thereby uppermost and unblocks the sliding door mounted in said track so that said door slides freely within said track to a second position back through said center pivotal point whereby said other end attains a position with said tail portion uppermost solely under the weight of said other end and said weighted means extends into the track of said sliding door to thereby block the sliding door from sliding movement within said track.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said weighted member is pivotally mounted on said base member by means of a pin passing through both said weighted member at substantially the intersection of the legs of said L and both of said brackets, said weighted member being disposed between and within said brackets. 

1. A door stop for sliding doors or the like whereby at least one of the doors is slidable with relation to another, the sliding door being mounted in a track installed on the threshold of said doors, said stop comprising: a base member adapted to be selectively secured to either said threshold or said track and having a pair of upwardly extending brackets; a weighted member pivotally mounted on said base member, said weighted member being generally L-shaped with one leg of said L forming a tail portion and the other end of said L having weighted means thereon so positioned as to bias said weighted member when said other end of said L is pivoted upwardly with respect to said base member in a first position past the center pivotal point of said weighted member with respect to said base member whereby said weighted member is stationary with respect to said base member and said weighted means is thereby uppermost and unblocks the sliding door mounted in said track so that said door slides freely within said track to a second position back through said center pivotal point whereby said other end attains a position with said tail portion uppermost solely under the weight of said other end and said weighted means extends into the track of said sliding door to thereby block the sliding door from sliding movement within said track.
 2. The door Stop of claim 1 wherein said base member includes a plurality of apertures therein for securing said base member to either said trackway or said threshold.
 3. The door stop of claim 1 wherein said weighted member is pivotally mounted on said base member by means of a pin passing through both said weighted member at substantially the intersection of the legs of said L and both of said brackets, said weighted member being disposed between and within said brackets.
 4. Apparatus for preventing the opening of a door that is slidable with respect to another, said sliding door being mounted within a track secured to the threshold of said doors, said apparatus comprising: a stop member fixedly secured to the door that is slidable with respect to the other; a door stop fixedly secured to a track within which the other of said doors is mounted and spaced from said stop member in the path of movement of said slidable door when said slidable door is in a closed position with respect to the other of said doors, said door stop including a base member fixedly secured to said track and having a pair of upwardly extending brackets, a weighted member pivotally mounted on said base member, said weighted member being generally L-shaped with one leg of said L forming a tail portion and the other end of said L forming a portion weighted with respect to said tail portion, said weighted member being off center with respect to said base member so that when said weighted portion is pivoted upwardly with respect to said base member, the weight of said weighted member is past the center pivotal point of said weighted member with respect to said base member, and said weighted member being movable from a position whereby said weighted portion is clear of said stop member as said slidable door slides in said track to a position whereby said stop member engages said weighted portion as said slidable door slides in said track.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said stop member includes a portion extending outwardly from the door that is slidable with respect to the other into the track occupied by the other of said doors.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said weighted member is pivotally mounted on said base member by means of a pin passing through both said weighted member at substantially the intersection of the legs of said L and both of said brackets, said weighted member being disposed between and within said brackets.
 7. Apparatus for preventing the opening of a door that is slidable with respect to another, said sliding door being mounted within a track secured to the threshold of said doors, said apparatus comprising: a door stop fixedly secured to said threshold, said door stop including a base member fixedly secured to said threshold and having a pair of upwardly extending brackets, a weighted member being generally L-shaped with one leg of said L forming a tail portion and the other end of said L having weighted means thereon so positioned as to bias said weighted member when said other end of said L is pivoted upwardly with respect to said base member in a first position past the center pivotal point of said weighted member with respect to said base member whereby said weighted member is stationary with respect to said base member and said weighted means is thereby uppermost and unblocks the sliding door mounted in said track so that said door slides freely within said track to a second position back through said center pivotal point whereby said other end attains a position with said tail portion uppermost solely under the weight of said other end and said weighted means extends into the track of said sliding door to thereby block the sliding door from sliding movement within said track.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said weighted member is pivotally mounted on said base member by means of a pin passing through both said weighted member at substantially the intersection of the legs of said L and both of said brackets, said wEighted member being disposed between and within said brackets. 